Record Numbers Say Gay Relations, Unwed Births Are Morally OK

Results of a recent Gallup poll show that Americans' tolerance toward gay and lesbian relations and having children outside marriage has increased significantly since 2001.

Results of a recent Gallup poll show that Americans’ tolerance toward gay and lesbian relations and having children outside marriage has increased significantly since 2001. Acceptance of gay and lesbian relations is up 19 points to 59 percent of those surveyed, and 60 percent said that unwed births are morally acceptable, up 15 points from 12 years ago.

According to the survey results, Americans have also become significantly more accepting of sex between an unmarried man and woman, divorce, embryonic stem cell research, polygamy, and cloning humans. The only issue that Americans have become significantly less accepting of over the last 12 years is medical testing on animals.

However, a majority of Americans continue to say that extramarital affairs, suicide, pornography and sex between teenagers are morally wrong. Tolerance toward doctor-assisted suicide and abortion were evenly split. Extramarital affairs remain at the bottom of morally acceptable behaviors with just 6 percent of those polled calling it so.